The Rohingyas are demanding an environment for their repatriation

Rohingya refugees urged a visiting UN human rights commissioner on Tuesday to actively engage the United Nations to create an environment conducive to the permanent repatriation of the persecuted minority in Myanmar.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to Bangladesh and Michelle Bachelet’s first visit to Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar district.

Surrounded by tight security, he spent several hours in the crowded camps and visited the offices of various aid agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to get an update on the services offered in the world’s largest refugee camp.

He interacted with the Rohingya delegation and interviewed the survivors of the genocide about their needs and demands.

“We asked him to engage the world’s most powerful organization, the United Nations, to create a peaceful environment in Myanmar so that we can return to our own country safely and with citizenship rights,” Maulana Azim Ullah, head of the Rohingya religion, told Anadolu Agency.

The reluctance of the UN to resolve the crisis

Maulana Azim Ullah said Bachlet assured the positive role of the UN in repatriating the Rohingya to peaceful and stable countries, “until the return is peaceful, she urged us to be patient and remain calm in the camps in Bangladesh”.

In an interview with Anadolu Agency, Rohingya youth leader Khin Mang said he was unhappy with the UN’s delay in resolving the Rohingya crisis.

“We see that the UN is only focused on gathering information, issuing reports and giving simple assurances. I would never believe that a powerful platform of world leaders would take so long to create the right environment in Myanmar for the permanent repatriation of the stateless Rohingya,” Maung said.

Noting the recent killing of two Rohingya leaders in the camps, he called on the international community and host country Bangladesh to take appropriate measures to strengthen security measures in the camps.

More than 1.2 million Rohingya currently live in Bangladesh, most of whom fled a brutal military crackdown in their home country of Rakhine state in Myanmar in August 2017.